California Man Gets 5 Years in Prison for Smuggling Reptiles Into US

By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-05-29 19:11:06 | Updated at 2026-06-06 23:16:35 1 week ago
California Man Gets 5 Years in Prison for Smuggling Reptiles Into US

People prepare to enter the United States from Tijuana, Mexico into San Ysidro, Calif., on Jan. 29, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A California man was sentenced May 28 to more than five years in prison for smuggling at least 1,700 reptiles into the United States from Mexico, Hong Kong, and other foreign countries over the course of six years, federal prosecutors said.

Jose Manuel Perez, 34, of Oxnard, Calif., pleaded guilty in August 2022 to one count of smuggling goods into the United States and one count of wildlife trafficking.

Read Entire Article